Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Leonardo and Matteo stared at the phone in disbelief. I shook my head in anger trying to make sense of her question.
“Yeah, of course we did. We all have a death wish, so we decided to use some grenades in a crowded bar, to kill some bikers and go out with a bang.”
“Sarcasm?”
“No. I’m actually speaking to you from hell. Lucifer sends his regards.”
“Oh, god,” she sighed, the sound of her breath coming through the speaker. “Okay. I guess I got my answer.”
“If you didn’t put the hit out on us, who did?”
“I have no idea, Mr. Borelli. I need some time to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, please, keep a low profile. I’ll see you soon.”
“See me…?”
I didn’t have time to finish my question because she’d already ended the call.
Matteo and Leonardo were silent.
“I don’t know about you, but I think she sounded pretty upset,” I gave them my opinion.
“Her men are in hospital, Cesare,” Matteo commented. “Of course she’d sound upset.”
“It’s more than that,” I disagreed. “Someone’s out to get them. We just got caught in the middle of it. And what the hell was that ‘see you soon’ thing? What’s she have in mind? A party?”
“I’ll only see those fucks again the day I empty my gun on them,” Leonardo growled. “We can’t let this slip, boys. We have to go after them.”
“I second that,” Matteo assumed a confident tone, his arm resting on his stomach.
What a couple of idiots.
Mindless.
With no awareness of their situation.
Just willing to indulge in their instinct. They wanted payback. I respected that and I wanted it, too, but this wasn’t the time to go out looking for the people who had tried to pump us full of lead.
“I expected that from Leonardo, but you?” I squinted over at Matteo. “You’re supposed to keep it together a lot better than him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Matteo asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“It means you’re talking out of your fucking ass. Both of you,” I explained. “First of all? Look at you. Look at us. We can’t go after Cesare shit, guys. We’re too banged up to even walk out the door, much less go out looking for three mobsters. Second? You heard that girl. Two of those mobsters are in hospital, and probably have a couple of cops right outside their rooms. What will we do? Shoot those cops, too? I don’t like that Owens-Roselli woman any more than you do, but I’ll take her suggestion.”
“What’s that?”
“Lay low.”
Those two words shot out of my mouth without me even thinking of them.
“There’s a lot of heat on us right now,” I continued, realizing that neither of them was willing nor able to offer me his opinion. “The mob can’t wait to see us dead, plus the cops will be desperate for clues as to what really went down in Amanda’s. So, I’m not lifting a finger until we get better and this whole thing blows over.”
“Cesare, I hear you, but those fuckers must pay,” Leonardo said, the determination in his tone showing his intent. “I want us to come up with a plan to get them, the minute we feel better.”
“Again, I’m going to have to agree with our little hothead over there,” Matteo spoke out, bobbing his head. “Sorry for losing it, man. I’m just upset about what happened in Amanda’s. That’s all.”
“They’ll pay,” I promised them, my gaze darting from Matteo to Leonardo and back to Matteo. “We just have to be careful and avoid doing anything stupid.”
I left them both in the living room and went to the bathroom to clean myself up. The guy in the mirror didn’t resemble me much. A chunk of my goatee had been singed off. I had plenty of cuts all over my face, including two, deeper ones across my forehead. I knew it would take us a few days to heal. I knew we wouldn’t like it, but the alternative was much, much worse. The truth was that once we got back out there, we’d be easy targets. Our bodies had taken a battering. We had to recover first, before getting back at anybody.
24
PIPER
Ten days after my last encounter with the trio and my stepbrother in the Presbyterian hospital, my life was back to normal.
None of them had been admitted with life-threatening injuries.
None of them had called or texted me.
In truth, they all acted like they never met me.
And boy, I was relieved.
Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting Felix to call me up. He hadn’t done that in months. He was going to pick up the phone and ask to see me, especially after his pathetic outburst in that hospital.
On the other hand, I felt a little disappointed. I did believe that at least one of those guys would have done so.
Not Cesare. It had been clear to me that he had gotten what he wanted and wasn’t interested in anything more.